A total of eight health workers – comprising three doctors and five nurses – at the Mushin General Hospital in Lagos State have tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
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It was learnt that the outbreak of the disease occurred at the hospital after a nurse fell ill two weeks ago.
Although the affected nurse was treated for malaria, a senior nurse who observed the patient’s symptoms suspected a COVID-19 case and immediately raised an alarm.
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It was gathered that some personnel of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) took the samples of the sick worker and the two officials (the nurse and a doctor) who attended to her.
The results of the patient and the doctor reportedly returned positive while that of the nurse was negative.
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This development, according to an official of the hospital, has caused panic among other health workers in the hospital.
“It started with a staff member who fell sick two weeks ago and was being treated for malaria at the hospital. It was one of the nurses who attended the COVID-19 training that suspected the worker had contracted the virus. The NCDC was invited and tests were carried out on her, the nurse and a doctor. I later learnt that the patient and the doctor tested positive,” the official told the Punch.
“I expected that they would shut down the ward where the worker was treated but the management did not do so. Also, there was no formal notification that those people were positive so that everyone will be more careful. We asked the managing director about the results but he said they were not out.”
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The newspaper quoted another source as saying two other doctors and four doctors were confirmed to have contracted the disease after being tested by NCDC officials last week.
The source also claimed that the hospital management had failed to communicate the outcome of the development to the hospital staff.
“The NCDC officials came with about 15 testing kits last week. I learnt on Tuesday that two other doctors and four nurses have also tested positive. The management has not said anything. We don’t know the people those that tested positive had come in contact with. We are worried. Something must be done about it. We have been kept in the dark,” the source said.
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Dr Olumide Sojinrin, the Managing Director of the hospital, confirmed that some employees tested positive.
He, however, explained that the hospital management wanted to limit the level of panic among staff by relaying information on the current developments through various heads of department.
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Sojinrin said: “We have been having series of meetings with everybody and we have been talking about how to train and retrain our personnel. We have been going round to ask the staff what they know about COVID-19 and if they are aware that some staff members have come down with it.
“We got the NCDC to come in and test staff members. We let our staff know that some of their colleagues are positive while some are negative. The strategy now is to use those who are positive as the ambassadors when they return to work to show that there is nothing to fear.
“People should not be afraid of test. We advise every member of staff to go to their local government and get tested. Coronavirus is not a death sentence. It is our job and we just have to live up to that responsibility. We are also trying to form a group that will reach out to those in isolation to ensure their psychological well-being.”
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